Penguins’ Streak Reaches 15

Pittsburgh — The Pittsburgh Penguins overcame an injury to Sidney Crosby yesterday for their 15th straight victory, beating the New York Islanders 2-0 in Jarome Iginla’s debut behind third-period goals from Matt Cooke and James Neal.

Tomas Vokoun made 35 saves as Pittsburgh moved within two wins of the NHL record of 17 straight victories set by Mario Lemieux and the 1992-93 Penguins.

Crosby skated off the ice with a towel covering his mouth after a slap shot by teammate Brooks Orpik deflected off a stick and hit the NHL scoring leader in the face just 1:28 into the game. Crosby, who immediately fell to the ice and tossed his stick in the air, did not return.

Crosby, with 15 goals and 56 points, holds a 10-point lead over Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos in the NHL scoring race.

Pittsburgh went 15-0-0 in March, the first perfect month in league history. The Penguins also won a franchise best 12th straight at home.

Canadiens 3, Rangers 0

Montreal — Michael Ryder and Tomas Plekanec scored in the first period and Carey Price made 34 saves and Montreal shut out New York.

Brendan Gallagher also scored while P.K. Subban had three assists for the Canadiens, who swept their three games with New York this season, outscoring the Rangers 9-1.

The Canadiens moved three points ahead of Boston for first place in the Northeast Division.

Maple Leafs 4, Senators 0

Ottawa — Nazem Kadri had a hat trick and James Reimer made 31 saves as Toronto defeated Ottawa.

Hurricanes 3, Jets 1

Winnipeg, Manitoba — Justin Peters made 34 saves to help Carolina keep its playoff hopes alive with a victory over Southeast Division-leading Winnipeg.

Buffalo, t.y. — Alex Ovechkin scored once in regulation and again in a shootout to help Washington past Buffalo.

Matt Hendricks also scored for Washington in the shootout, while Capitals goalie Braden Holtby stopped both of Buffalo’s shootout attempts. Mike Green capped a two-goal third-period rally and forced overtime by scoring with 40 seconds left. Troy Brouwer had a goal and assist for Washington, which bounced back from a 3-2 loss to the Islanders on Tuesday to improve to 4-1 in its past five.